But if they tell you there's wet paint somewhere you have to touch it?
2007-01-26 08:13:44 · 6 answers · asked by WWF Decade Impaired Fan 2 in Science & Mathematics ➔ Other - Science
The first question causes you to feel helpless about your ability to verify it, so you take their word for it. The wet paint appeals to the "I can test it for myself" side of your personality so you question it.
Neat question!!
2007-01-26 08:22:24 · answer #1 · answered by Ellie S 4 · 3⤊ 0⤋
Wet paint is something the human mind can 'understand'. However, a billion of anything is not comprehensible.
We can question/challenge things we understand - so we touch the wet paint to see if it is wet.
We have trouble questioning things (e.g. very large numbers) that are incomprehensible - so we 'just go with it'.
I suspect that if you told someone that there are 73 stars visible in the sky tonight (assuming you are both outside) that the person you are saying this to might actually begin to count stars to see if you are right!
Best wishes. Great question!
2007-01-26 08:35:00 · answer #2 · answered by Doctor J 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
its kinda like when you ask a difficult question in yahoo, you 're lucky to get a few good serious answers but when you ask a simple question you get lots of silly answers, the former being the equivalent of the "how many stars" question and the latter being the equivalent to the "wet paint" statement, its part of the human condition, if they could put their hand to the stars and count them they would - if it didnt take too long to answer i guess...
2007-01-26 08:31:07 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
because i can't count to a billion but i really like the feel of wet paint
2007-01-26 08:36:10 · answer #4 · answered by ♥will♥skate♥4♥life♥ 4 · 1⤊ 0⤋
ok so you cant count alll the stars and you just wanna be rebelious
N
2007-01-26 10:45:39 · answer #5 · answered by Killercobra 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
probally because there is no known way to disprove the fact
2007-01-29 06:01:15 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋